FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Republican president of the Kentucky state Senate has asked a federal judge to withhold his ruling ordering a county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Republican Senate President Robert Stivers says U.S. District Judge David Bunning needs to give the state legislature time to pass a law that would exempt Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis from having to issue marriage licenses. The state legislature is not in session and won’t be until January. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has refused to call for a special session, arguing it would waste taxpayer money for an issue that only affects one clerk.

“The Supreme Court ruling has completely obliterated the definition of marriage and the process for obtaining a marriage license in Kentucky,” Stivers said in a news release. “The General Assembly will be compelled to amend many sections of Kentucky law, not just for the issuance of marriage licenses, to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision.”

Stivers says nearly all of Kentucky’s laws governing marriage are invalid following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. For example, Kentucky’s state law requires a couple seeking a marriage license to apply for one in the county “in which the female resides” or at another county so long as the woman applies for it.

“(The Supreme Court decision) clearly contemplates marriages that do not involve a female, as well as marriages that involve two females,” Stivers’ attorney wrote to the court. “It is unclear at this juncture what the proper venue for the issuance of a license for same sex marriages is after (the Supreme Court’s decision.)

Davis objects to same-sex marriage for religious reasons. She stopped issuing marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her, and Bunning ordered her to issue the licenses.

But Davis has refused to obey that order even though it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The four couples named in the lawsuit have asked Bunning to punish Davis by imposing fines against her. Bunning said he will decide after a court hearing, scheduled for Thursday. Davis will likely testify.

Wednesday, an attorney for Davis argued Bunning should not punish her for disobeying his order because she is unable to follow it. Jonathan Christman wrote that if Davis were to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple it would “irreparably and irreversibly violate her conscience.” Christman said Davis cannot separate herself from her religious beliefs even while she is an elected official.

“It is not as if Kim Davis the individual stops existing while Kim Davis is performing her duties as Rowan County clerk,” Christman wrote.

Christman argued Davis should not be punished yet because she still has an appeal pending before a higher court on a related issue. And he said that if Bunning were to fine Davis for not obeying his order it would amount to criminal penalties that would be illegal because Davis has not exercised all of her rights, including the right to a trial by a jury.

Attorneys for the couples suing Davis have said she should be fined because she continues to earn a taxpayer-funded salary “for duties she fails to perform.”

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in News

Drivers along Ayd Mill Road in St. Paul call it one of the most pockmarked roadways in town. Winter melt, age, traffic intensity, deferred maintenance and questionable construction all have taken their toll. St. Paul city officials are continually grappling with the challenge of funding road repair for a growing residential and business population. Outsiders sometimes make unfair comparisons to...

St. Paul Saints general manager Derek Sharrer's stomach was doing backflips as he watched No. 16 seed Maryland-Baltimore County beat No. 1 overall seed Virginia. The team he’s in charge of was about to be out $10,000.

A marker on the Hillcrest Golf Course proclaims the Hillcrest Knoll to be Ramsey County's highest hilltop, though folks in Arden Hills and Shoreview might dispute it. Soon, the 1920s-era golf course may have another claim to fame -- housing, and lots of it. At Larpenteur Avenue and McKnight Road on the city's Greater East Side, Hillcrest represents 112 acres...